Renovations mark new beginning for Pines of Sarasota

The assisted-living facility at The Pines of Sarasota will undergo its first major renovation thanks to a partnership with the Pines of Sarasota Foundation and the Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation. 

The Pines, a rehabilitation services, skilled nursing, assisted-living and memory care facility on North Orange Avenue, will renovate and reimagine the assisted-living portion of its campus, a first step toward a broader transformation of the Pines of Sarasota’s 70-year-old campus.

It’s the first major work to the assisted-living facility since it opened 30 years ago.

Funding for the $3.9 million project is supported by the Mertz Foundation, which will match all donations on a 2-to-1 basis through the Love Lives Here campaign. 

The campaign has raised $2.9 million to date, leaving $1 million to raise.

“Our mission is to show kindness and compassion toward those in need of aid in a manner that will provide hope, restore independence and bring happiness and gratitude into their lives,” said Nancy Close, direction adviser of the Esther and Harold Mertz Foundation.

The $3.9 million renovation project will expand the residential living quarters and provide each unit with a private bathroom and living room. Residents currently share a restroom with their neighbor. Showers are located down the hall.

Several of the facility’s common spaces will also get an update including transforming part of the dining hall into a coffee and soda shop and adding a wall of windows into the first floor to brighten and open up the space. 

A porte-cochère will also be added to the exterior entrance of the facility.

“We really pride ourselves to make sure that our residents have dignity and comfort,” said Pines of Sarasota Foundation President Janet K. Ginn. “Privacy has really been an issue for our residents, so we listened to their needs. 

“The thing that really brought it home for me personally was during Hurricane Irma, when I was assigned to stay with our residents during the storm. I got a first-hand experience of what it was like having to share a restroom with my neighbor. It was uncomfortable and inconvenient.”

Renovations to the assisted-living facility will begin May 1. Residents will be relocated to a temporary home for about six months. 

Residents should be resettled in the remodeled assisted-living facility by the end of the year, she said.

“They are excited to share with the community where they live after the renovations are done,” Ginn said. “They are very proud someone would do this for them and were surprised that the community cared enough about them to do this.”

Ginn said a diverse group of residents call the assisted-living facility home. 

“These are people who have given so much to Sarasota through their many years, whether they were teachers, performers, construction workers or veterans. The comm

unity has counted on Pines to take care of the individuals who literally built Sarasota, and now it’s time for the community to give back.”

The Pines of Sarasota opened in 1948 and now has 19 buildings on its 25-acre campus.

“We at Pines understand our history, but we also understand our future,” Ginn said. “What we do here will be here for generations to come.”